Nest in the middle of dirt road, workers moving pebbles out of the way to clear entrance
On Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata)
On birch polypore fungus
ex Diervilla lonicera
Another that I caught on Physalis heterophylla and assume is L. pectinatum
Keys to Andrena erythronii. Pictures show a distinct but weak pronotal angle, flat clypeus with median impunctate line, wide but slightly emarginate labral process, impunctate abdomen without strong fasciae, linear malar space. Foveae are ~2/3 space, propodeum is not rugose or striate as in Trach/Scrapt. Pale vestiture, nothing fuscous or black.
Keys discretely to O. cordata via Mitchell (1962), Discoverlife, and Sandhouse’s ancient (1934) key to subgenera and species. Aligns with all available descriptions. Diagnostic features pictured include coarse and often contiguous/confluent punctures of scutum, golden scopa, facial features (including mandible/flat clypeus rim), narrow but definite impunctate area along apical rims of terga, evenly pubescent terminal tergite with fine punctures and without an apical fascia. Several individuals were visiting Penstemon digitalis. They either had deeply yellow, yellow-orange, or even rust-yellow scopa, further fitting with available descriptions.
I also found O. albiventris at this site; I show it side by side a cordata to demonstrate the differences in punctation and size; I also photographed it beside an O. pumila for additional size comparison. Osmia cordata clearly differs from the two, and its mandible (pictured) also clearly fits with the form drawn by Sandhouse (1934), separating it from O. sandhouseae. In the Discoverlife key, sorting by yellow scopa and flat clypeal margin was sufficient to get to cordata. T6 was not fasciate, ruling out conjuncta/subfasciata; the lack of a tuberculate space between antennae also disqualified conjuncta for this series.
I think a first record for TN. However, a certified record occurs just over the mountains in NC (bowl trap; GBIF), so this TN specimen still seems to fill into the range sensibly. Mitchell (1962) says Colorado to Ohio.
Collected in a sweep of Cornus racemosa. ID confirmed from specimen by Sam Droege.
better pix tba; hundreds all over Ilex verticillata and glabra
rather big, rather blue, dark scopal hairs
on Rubus
I think; have vouchers, so will update ID if incorrect
From Geranium maculatum
Counted about 60 nests at this aggregation - last year there were two other aggregations in the powerline ROW but those appear to be gone, maybe due to the pretty intensive work with heavy machinery done in the ROW by the power company last fall...? Sad to see, as the number of nests has been reduced by probably 60-75%. I'll try and check back in a few days in case there's just some late emergers but they seem to be at peak this time every year so I'm doubtful.
About half a dozen individuals seen on highbush blueberry in a kettle hole bog. The blueberry was very abundant here, in full bloom. These bees were the only visitors to gather pollen, and their sonication was audible!
Two years now I've noticed they travel further from their nests to reach this highbush blueberry in the parking lot when there's lowbush in the powerline ROW. Only one male was seen on the lowbush, but all females and some males were on the highbush.
very large Sphecodes; vs. dichrous (also present here), has denser pits on scutum, less extensive pitting on T2
confirmed from specimen
nesting aggregation of Andrena erythrogaster
1000++ nests over the entire base path on a town ballfield. Photo 2 shows the area around 1st base bag. Photo 3 is a closeup of a portion of this same area. Photo 4 is home plate.
Greater number of nests observed in the clay-colored substrate on the base paths compared with the grey substrate on home plate and the pitcher's mound.
A few individuals of Nomada lehighensis were observed parasitizing the nests. See observation https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/213534760
Photos show one individual. Photo 3 shows this individual digging a nest. Photo 4 shows a Nomad bee parasitzing a nest ~ 1 cm away. The observation for nomad bee is found here https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/213534760
These observations are from a large nesting aggregation; see https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/213534751
Parasitizing nests of Andrena erythronii in a large nest aggregation See https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/213534751
and
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/213534752
bidentate, spots all the way down tergites but much smaller than maculata
voucher specimens have 3-4 long tibial spines, not like maculata
potentially relevant Andrena in the area included heraclei, nasonii, cressonii - have picked up lepida-ish Nomada in the vicinity of Andrena rugosa nesting before. Suspect Trachandrena as host(s?).
This fuzzy little guy (c. 8 mm) keeps keying out as A. erythrogaster, which would be a new species for Dukes County/Martha's Vineyard. It seems a bit small, with the vertex rather long for that species. But apparently all-black males like this are not uncommon. Cheek shape; long, thin, reddish basitarsi; fairly short clypeus with dense pitting and a magnificent brush of pale hair; F1 slightly longer than F2; terga with no apical fascia and depressed, reddish hyaline margins; sternal subapical fimbriae with sparse long hairs, interrupted medially; and long. slender mandibles with prominent subapical teeth are among the erythrogaster-like traits I was able to capture. Collected from Epigaea repens.
Same location as a male from a few weeks ago. Many Nomada, and a few provisioning females.
Collected on Cardimine.
2 individuals, but from within a few feet of each other at a nesting aggregation of Andrena frigida(?). individual on ground was digging at a site that a female was actively provisioning.
Pan trap
ID notes:
A two-fer. This Observation is for Triepeolus.
Melissodes bimaculatus and Triepeolus lunatus roosting on Packera aurea in my front yard, July 2015.
T. lunatus is a cuckoo of M. bimaculatus, two-spotted long-horned bee.
This moth emerged from a Trailing Arbutus leaf I took in over a month ago (second image).
A petal-cutting sequence: she cut a neat strip from one of the petals of Oenothera macrocarpa. Unfortunately, I came along after most of the work had already been accomplished.
The first image is not in focus, but some of the subsequent shots are fairly sharp. I never got an image of dorsal tergum 6, so identification may be complicated; for what it's worth, notice that tergum 6 is clearly concave (note the "tail" visible in the first 3 images). There are also shots that give a surprising amount of detail about the dentation of the mandibles and the structure of the tarsi.
Male to match the female here:
https://bugguide.net/node/view/1848922/bgimage
I have other angles of the abdomen if needed.
At least some of the nests in this aggregation were being entered by more than one female. Here are two females that emerged one right after the other from the same burrow.
Pretty sure. Hair on thorax seemed not quite as pale as barbara (and a bit more rufous-y toned?), which also emerged over a month ago at 2 aggregations I know and are extremely worn by now. Photos also show differences in wing venation vs barbara (posterior and anterior sides of sm cell 2 much longer relative to 3 in perplexa than in barbara) and, I think (surprisingly) the pronotal angle.